I've just returned from a short holiday stay which included lots of scampering tiny tots, lots of sunscreen , sand and water and lots of cheap rum and tequila.
While on this extended stay I had the opportunity to watch how children made their own 'playland' within a designed resort .
The thing that really struck me was not how the kids were attracted to all the fancy bells and whistles that a designer resort has jammed packed into their groovy grounds but how the kids gravitated to just the simplist of recreational endeavors like a basic sand box.
Adjacent to the pool deck where we were staying was a empty plot of sand , probably 5'x5' in size, jammed up against some coral rocks. It was probably a garden bed at one time but over the years it had not been kept up well and it was simply collecting sand.
This odd non-maintained cast off spot seemed to have some magical spell to the active imaginations of several of the youngest kids who were hanging around the pool.
It became the coolest of cool spots to hang out when building sand castle or just plain hanging in the sun and sand.
This odd little spot reminded me of a large cardboard box that I used to play in as a kid.
I think it was a washing machine box but to me it was the coolest playhouse on the block.
All this strikes a strong cord within me at this moment in my life as I sit here at my desk writing a book about recreational playspaces for children and look over all the fancy photographs of expensive play equipment.
It's ironic..... all the time and expense that went into the slides, the pools, the hardscape ect.... and it all came down to one small forgotten patch of sand that caught the imagination of several tiny tots and kept them active for hours while Mum and Dad had a chance to enjoy a couple of Rumrunners and catch up with their family and friends.
Ah.... the beauty of the undesigned garden , a pail and a patch of sand.
